Hey All
As some of you may or may not know, I was approached by a publishing company late 2012. They saw my profile here and asked me if I was interested in writing a book about the Source SDK. Once my suspicions about the the authenticity of the publisher (PACKT) wore off, I took the red pill, jumped down the rabbit hole, and started writing.
I got about 2/3 through the book before Valve decided to release the Steampipe which broke many, many things. Faceposer included. I then had to break the news to my editors and re-write the better part of 8 chapters to include the new folder structure, and to ensure everything still functioned properly. This set me back a good 4 months. It took a lot of effort to re-do what I put so much work into. I took that time to create the floating island compo map. This taught me two things: The SDK tools still function perfectly, and I love mapping. so I NEED to suck it up and finish this book.
So. After multiple setbacks, innumerable revisions, hours of research/ testing, and one scrapped chapter (faceposer, RIP)..... I have entered the final proofing stages; and the book is due to be released next month.
http://www.packtpub.com/source-sdk-development-essentials/book
I learned quite a bit writing this book. I can say I've learned more about Source Scripting in the last 4 months than I have over the course of a few years. But I needed to know every detail because I wasn't learning for me, I was teaching others and HAD to be right.
As excited as I am to break this news to all of you guys, I almost feel as though I'm capitalizing on the efforts and general knowledge of this site and its members. I know that I would not have the experience and confidence in my abilities without the support and criticism I have received from TWHL over the last 10 years. I don't want any hard feelings or anything, or I may just be delusional.. It doesn't matter. This book wouldn't exist without TWHL and I owe a lot to everyone here, past and present.
To whomever has helped me get here, I truly, and deeply thank you.